End of the Line

The Discovery Launch went off without any difficulties. I taped it from the beach behind the Gables with my Video Camcorder. Early the next morning we started our return trip to Cape Cod in the '89 Riviera. After stopping in Washington D.C., I took this photo. As to be expected, it was a long and grueling trip. I went through Washington D.C. Wednesday afternoon and took another photo of the Riv in front of a modern sculpture by Mark di Suvero titled Are Years What? (for Marianne Moore)1967 on the Mall. You can see it here. The interesting fact would be that this was made by a different artist and dates previous to the one I photographed in Vero Beach. I didn't run into any gridlock in any of the cities on the trip. Coming in from Virginia to Washington, we saw the awesomely impressive Air Force Memorial officially dedicated on Saturday, October 14, 2006, three stainless steel spires that soar 270 feet high installed since I visited the city last. Passing the Pentagon we continued at a good pace into the city. We traveled up and back to the Capitol along the Mall and Pennsylvania Avenue. We stopped in the shadow of Washington monument as well as on the Mall. The White House was isolated by security measures, but I could see it from a distance. This security presented the only real delay to the city driving. Since the cherry blossoms haven't bloomed yet, this was not the height of the tourist season. I stretched my legs and then crossed the Potomac back into Arlington on the Arlington Memorial Bridge. There I took a "wrong turn" onto the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Although I have passed through this city often, I have never traveled on this road. It was pleasantly surprising. There was no exit back into the city. I didn't realize that the Potomac had such a steep valley. With the bare trees of March we had excellent views of it up beyond Georgetown. It reminded me of many of the old roads built in the N.E. in the twenties, narrow, winding along the natural contours of the land with stone block walls and scenic turn-offs. Driving as far as the CIA and Federal Highway Administration Research Station in Langley, I entered the beltway realizing my stay in this city this time around was over. At this point we were in the bumper-to-bumper afternoon commute. However, it went smoothly. Before sunset we passed south of Baltimore and arrived in Delaware at twilight. Although I intended to cross the Delaware south of Wilmington, we missed the turn. I continued through this small city in the dark and on to Philly. We missed a turn and passed through the airport there, then lost our way a bit but eventually crossed the Delaware into Camden, spending the night in N.J. We arrived in N.Y.C. during the morning rush hour, but after taking the Staten Island route into Brooklyn and Queens, the bumper-to-bumper travel went without mishap. Once back in N.E., we breathed a sigh of relief and were quite happy to arrive in the hilly terrain of R.I. My 80 year old mother, however, survived it. Obviously, I'm in worse shape now than when I left. Consequently it's time to do some conditioning!!!